Reading the Potter Books: Book 1
by MzPeachesMellark
Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are taken right before the first book is suppose to begin. They are to read all the books to change the future. Ships will be happening earlier than before. This will be book one. Please enjoy!
1. Introduction

_**New Author: **__A lovely read pointed out some mistakes I have made. I'm not good with relying on someone else but if someone want to help BETA this story PM me._

_**Author Note: **__I'm going to have Ginny be 7 years old. The Trio will be 8-9, and if I decide to bring anyone else in to read, I'll let you know their age and if necessary the time period they came from._

_**Disclaimer: **__I'm writing this once so pay attention. I do not own anyone from the Harry Potter world; all rights belong to JK Rowling. Plus I can't possibly be her because I doubt I could write HP & PS/SS while in my mommy womb._

**Enough of that stuff onto the story!**

It was the same old day at number 4, Privet Drive for young Mr. Harry J. Potter. Aunt Petunia yelling at him the different "acts of appreciation" (slave labor!) he was to do. Harry were just finishing the lawn, when a flash of light taken Harry away. Said force dropped Harry on a couch in a mysterious next to a little redhead girl. Harry looks around more and notices two other kids about his age.

"Hi, may I ask who are you?" Harry inquired.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger. Do you happen to know what is going on? I mean one minute I'm reading Romeo and Juliet and the next I'm here. Oh! My parents will be crossed", Hermione mini monologue.

"Hermione! Calm down, everything will be okay", Harry say soothingly.

"To continue this little bit of welcomes, I'm Ron Weasley and this is my little sister, Ginevra", Ron said to reduce tension.

"Ronald, don't call me Ginevra! It's Ginny", Ginny fumed.

"I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet all of you", Harry said.

When Harry said his name, Ron went into shock and Ginny squealed, pulling him into a hug.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"Harry is the greatest, most amazing person ever!" Ginny exclaims before blushing and pulling away from him.

"What I do?"

"You save only like the entire wizard world from you-know-who!" Ron exclaimed.

"You-know-who, who's you-know-who?" Hermione asked.

"Here, let us be of assistants."

Everyone look to the couch that just appeared, with a raven haired man and a redhead woman. The man looked a lot like Harry and woman looked like Ginny.

"You-know-who is Voldemort. He killed your parents, Little Harry," Older Ginny said.

"What? Aunt Petunia told me they died in a car crash," Harry said confused. He begins thinking. _How could I've been so stupid? How many times have Aunt Petunia lied to me? Why would I believe her? I'm so stupid!_

Harry began to cry. Ginny, little Ginny, being the closest to Harry hugged him. He just cried on her shoulder, not long maybe for a minute, minute and a half tops. Harry then turns to older Harry and Ginny. (_Harry/Ginny_ for older one.)

"Why am I here? Why are we all here, sir?" Harry asked.

"Call me Harry", _Harry _stated.

"So you really are Ginny and Harry from the future!" Hermione exclaimed.

_Ginny _gently laugh before laying her head on _Harry's_ shoulder. _Harry_ wraps his arm around _Ginny's _waist. Everyone looked shocked at this.

"Are you two dating?" Ron asked.

"No, sorry, we're not", _Ginny_ said with a smirk. Little Ginny looked disappointed. Ron looked relieved and disappointed. Harry and Hermione were more or less indifferent. "We're married!"

After the shock wore off multiple things happened. Ginny jumped up and down shouting 'I marry Harry Freaking Potter!' for a minute before pulling Harry in for a kiss. After pulling away, both Harry and Ginny looked flushed. Ron was stuck in a state of shock. Hermione still looked calculative.

"Okay enough deviating from the question at hand. Why are we here?" Hermione asked.

"You're here to read about the future. Sorry little guy, it's in your point of view, our point of view. All your years at Hogwarts, it's a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Before you ask Harry, yes, your home life will be mentioned, often."

"What about Harry's home life?" Ginny questioned.

"Nothing. Let's move on. Where's the books we'll be reading? How many are there?" Harry started inquiring.

"They should be here now." Just as he said that, a table appeared with seven books on it.

Hermione picked up the books one by one.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, and finally, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Hermione read of the books. "Do we have to read them all before we can leave? What about our families, they'll notice if we're gone for days or weeks?"

"This place is in a time lock, all events outside are on hold. Well _Harry _and I need to get back to our babies."

(_**Author's Note: **__At this point Harry is about 25 and Ginny is 24. They only just had James and they have Teddy._)

"I'm a dad as well? First, I find out I'm a wizard, second, my parents were murdered, third, I'm married, and now, I have kids. How am I not losing it?" Harry mini ranted.

"It's a Harry Potter thing", said _Harry Potter._ "Bye."

With that said _Harry _and _Ginny_ disappear as if by magic!

"I guess I'll start the reading."

Hermione picks up the first book, turn to the first chapter and begins reading.


	2. Chapter 1

"The Boy Who Lived", Hermione read.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"Why be proud to be normal? Normal is boring", Ginny stated.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such n****onsense.**

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" Ron asked.

"Drills are tools used to make holes in thing if needed", Hermione explained.

"Why would anyone need to make holes?" Ginny asked.

"Let's move on", Hermione says trying to go back to reading.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck,**** which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. **

"Yes, they just sound like quite the lookers", Ron said sarcastically.

"I'm glad Harry don't look anything like those people", Ginny said with relief.

"Harry is right here, but thanks for the compliment", Harry said with a mocking smile.

Ginny blushed redder than her hair.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Harry laughed harder than ever before.

"Dudley? Little? That's a laugh. Dudley is about the size of a prized pig or baby whale", Harry said still laughing.

"Harry! You have to be exaggerating! It's unhealthy for anyone to be that size", Hermione exclaimed.

Harry just shook his head.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but**** they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE POTTERS!" Ginny shouted. She never has been angrier in her life.

"Ginny calm down, they never liked me", Harry told her hoping to calm her down, but it did just the opposite.

Harry not knowing what else to do pull the Weasley girl into a hug, Little Ginny Weasley began crying into Harry's shoulder. Harry was touched, even though this little girl just met him; she was so passionate about his wellbeing. Harry then thought she probably only care because she thinks his famous, not because she actually cares. He decides to worry about it later.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"That's just horrible! How could anyone just treat their family that way? Also unDursleyish not even a word!" Hermione exclaimed.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"Like what? Harry seems like a cool bloke, your kid is a prat", Ron said, speaking finally since they started.

Harry just smiled at whom seemed to be his new friend.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday o****ur story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, **

"Why pick out his most boring tie?" Ron and Ginny questioned.

"It's obvious, he believes that if he pick boring clothes then nothing too crazy and exciting will happen", Hermione try to explain.

"No, he's just boring", Harry stated, causing Ron and Ginny to laugh. Hermione was flustered, she's never been wrong before.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye b****ut missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," cho0rtled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

"He encouraged that, if any of us tried that, we'd be spanked", Ron stated.

"How many siblings do you have" Harry asked.

"Well we have five other brothers so there's seven of us all together", Ron said.

"Woah, I wish I had siblings", said Harry and Hermione.

"No, you don't. You have a lot to live up to. Everyone expects you to do as well as them, but if you do, it won't matter because they did it first. You never get anything new, when we start school, I'll get Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat", Ron ranted. "Except for Ginny because she's the only girl so at least she gets some things new."

"Oh, Ron, you're great! You're the best at chess and no one can take that from you and I'm sure you'll do great things", Ginny said to Ron. Ginny move from Harry's side to sit by Ron.

"Thanks Ginevra."

"Don't push it!"

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he notic****ed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

"Cats can't read!" Hermione protested.

"Magic, Hermione, remember magic exist", Ginny said laughing.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. **

"Wow muggles really try to pretend we don't exist", Ron said.

"Well only when they get older. Kids love believing in you", Hermione told the young wizard.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. ****Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

"He thinks everything is weird or stupid if it's not plain and boring, so I doubt it's that bad", Harry says.

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! **

"What's wrong with wearing cloaks?" Ron asked.

"Muggles don't wear cloaks", Harry said.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"I think he loves drills too much. I wonder if he had to choose between pastries and drills which one he'd choose", Ginny pondered.

**Mr. Dursley always ****sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.**

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Owls are traditionally nocturnal and aren't really seen even then", Hermione explained.

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"You can tell what his favorite past time is", Hermione said.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

"He actually waked somewhere? Am I dreaming?" Harry asked.

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Oh that makes more sense. I almost died of shock", Harry joked.

"Oh no, you're not leaving me to take care of our kids by myself", Ginny angrily.

"You realize you don't have any kids or married yet?" Ron questioned.

Ginny blushed and hid her face in a pillow.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to th****e baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"**

"Ginny, I think this is THAT day", Ron said, Ginny just nodded with her head still in the pillow.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought b****etter of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,**

"Wow he never move that fast before."

**and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked ****his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

"It's really not, there's Ryan Potter and…" Hermione started but Ron covered her mouth.

"Can you just continue reading?" Ron asked impatiently.

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. **

"You can feel the love", Ron said sarcastically.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

**He fo****und it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, **

"He's saying sorry? Hermione are you sure you read that correctly?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I'm sure", Hermione said.

**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fe****ll. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and wa****lked off.**

"I can't believe it! His arms fit around the guy? Amazing!" Harry said shocked.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which h****e had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"So he is contradicting his self, then."

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden w****all. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered.**

"That is most definitely not a normal cat's behavior. Are their magical cats?" Harry asked.

"No, mate, there isn't", Ron answered.

**Trying to pull himself together, he l****et himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!****"). **

"What is wrong with these people?! Dudley will never grow up properly this way", Hermione goes mini parental.

"He's not."

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very**** unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"Was that supposed to be funny? Fred and George are way funnier than this guy", Ginny stated finally bringing her face out the pillow.

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not onl****y the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! **

"What are wrong with everyone?! They're not being careful, muggles are noticing!" Ginny freaked out a bit.

**Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whispe****r, a whisper about the Potters...****Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have**** you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"How could anyone do that? I wish I had a little sister", Hermione said.

"Hermione, I can be your little sister if you like", Ginny offered.

"I'd like that very much", the older girl smiled at her 'little sister'.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a ****lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"They don't even know how old you are? Do they anything about you?" Hermione asked.

"That I'm a boy, wear glasses, and that I belong to them", Harry thought out loud. "Wait, also that I'm a freak."

"That's ridiculous! You're not a freak", Hermione and Ginny lectures.

"Yeah, mate, we only just met you and we can tell you're a cool bloke", Ron reassures.

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"There's nothing wrong with the name Harry, I think its beautiful", Ginny said ears turning a brilliant Weasley red.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

"No one asked you!" Hermione exclaimed.

**He didn't say another word on the su****bject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? **

"I thought he don't believe in imagination. He needs to make up his mind", Ron declared and everyone else nodded in agreement.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Du****rsley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...**

"He was so wrong. Why he had to jinx it?" Harry proclaimed.

**How very wrong he was.**

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into ****an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"That's one weird cat. Are you sure it's not magically?" Hermione asked.

Ron and Ginny nodded.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's ta****il twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"That man could use a beard cut", Ginny said.

**He was wearing long robes, a pur****ple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"I wouldn't care either."

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, be****cause he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"Known what?" everyone asked.

**He found what he was looking for in his i****nside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness.**

"Wicked! I want one!" Ron shouted excitedly.

**Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fanc****y seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Cats can teach?" Hermione asked in shock.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too****, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"The cat was a person? So people can shape-shift?" Harry questioned.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sittin****g on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"No one asked you to, Stiffy" Harry and Ginny said together. Harry gave her a bright smile. Ginny already blushing at saying the same thing as Harry, blushed more as he smiled at her.

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," s****he said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"That be funny if it wasn't him", Ron said.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to c****elebrate for eleven years."**

"Moldywarts was terrorizing people for eleven years!" Harry exclaimed.

"That's not his name, but don't say it", Ron requested.

"I have no reason to be afraid of a NAME", Harry said, rolling his eyes. "It's completely ridiculous."

"I'll say it if you give me a hug whenever I want one", Ginny offered.

"Okay."

"V-vol-volde-mo-mort. Hug. Now!" Ginny said slightly shaky.

Harry rolled his eyes before moving over to Ginny and hugging her. Ginny couldn't help but breathe in his scent. He smelt of fresh air.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

"I know right!"

**Sh****e threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"I love those! They're delicious!"

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this**** 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.**

"I don't know who this Dumbledore guy is but I like him", Harry nodded in agreement.

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the onl****y one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"I bet it's because he's too noble to use them", Hermione stated.

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

"Read ahead?" Harry asked.

"You bet'cha", Hermione laughed.

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much**** since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About wh****at finally stopped him?"**

"Yeah! That my new friend is a complete badars-", Ron started, but was hit by both Hermione and Ginny. (A/N: Sister Power!)

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such ****a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she ****pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "**

Harry heard this once again, felt a bitter sadness that he has never felt before, as well as anger. He felt cheated. His parents were taken from him before he could ever actually get a proper memory of them, before feeling their love. Harry wished that he had the chance to see them just once. He also felt that vengeance was in order, toward Moldywarts and his "family". His "family" lied to him hindering him from mourning properly. It wasn't until Ginny pulled him into a hug that he realized he was crying. This little girl holding and stroking his hair has shown him more love than he ever received in his life with the Dursleys.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James..****. I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."**

"Atleast I know someone cared for them."

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he ****tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone.**

**Dumbledore nod****ded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?****"**

"That's the big question", Ron said.

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It ****was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

"How does that work?" Hermione inquired.

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"Wish they hadn't."

**"You don't mean - you ****can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Something we all agree on. Bless you woman, bless you!" Harry shouted.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've writte****n them a letter."**

"A letter! A bloody letter! You can't explain a tragedy like this in a bloody letter!" Ginny fumed until Harry laid a quick kiss on her cheek. Just like butter in the sun, she melted.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be ****surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would**** be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Okay I see his point but I think an orphanage or foster home would have been a billion times better", Harry mumbled though the others still heard him.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mou****th, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"He better not or there will be consequences!" Ginny stated angrily.

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You ****think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as ****they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"Now that is cool ….. dangerous ….. but cool", Hermione said.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to th****e man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"He sounds scary and nice", Ron blurted out.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor ****Dumbledore, sit," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"I need to meet this guy so I can get one", Harry said with enthusiasm.

Ginny and Ron looked at each other nervously an exchange that Hermione J. Granger happen to notice.

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggle****s started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Awe that's so cute", Hermione cooed.

"I bet you were a cute baby, Harry", Ginny said in adoration.

Harry just blushed while Ron laughed at his friend's embarrassment.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead th****ey could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Harry, now disgusted with his scar, tried covering it up.

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't****. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Ginny and Hermione simultaneously awed. Harry blushed a Weasley red.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McG****onagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"It's nice to know someone cares", Harry said softly.

"We care, Harry", Ginny said just as gently.

**"Yes, yes, it's ****all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. **

"Has he lost his mind? You could have gotten sick or stolen", Hermione said worriedly.

"I've obviously made it", Harry smiled at the older girl's concern.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll ****be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and of****f into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver ****Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"Thanks sir, I'll need it", Harry accepted.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last plac****e you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, **

Once again the girls just had to awe.

**not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"Well that's the end of that chapter", Hermione announced.

Suddenly a note appeared.

_Now reading all seven of the books would take forever. So we decided that you only have to read the important chapters_. _This means six chapters of the first book will be cut out._

_Love,_

_The Potters_

"Great, now let's eat."

Just as Ron said this a table with four plates appeared. Each plate had the favorite dishes of each person. Everyone dived right in.


	3. Chapter 2

Once they finished eating, the group went back to the couches. Ginny and Harry sat on one couch while Ron and Hermione sat on the other. Ron wanted to sit with his sister but she insisted on this arrangement. She wanted easy access to her hugs. With that done, Ginny picked up the book, and turned to chapter 2.

"The Vanishing Glass", Ginny read.

"Accident magic there, mate?" Ron asked.

Harry just shrugged.  
**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

"Wow, that's not normal, that's weird and boring. That's quite the contradiction", Ginny said. She kind of threw in that last bit to show Harry she was smart as well.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,**

"That's hilarious, Harry", Ron laughed, gasping for air.

"I'm just speaking the truth", Harry laughed with him.

Ginny was also laughing leaned on Harry. Hermione was shaking her head, no one should be that big, but she did have a baby smile on her face.

**and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, **

"Don't know why, he hated exercising", Harry said.

**on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"Did someone come to get you, Harry?" asked Ron.

Harry knowing what was to come next remained silent.**  
Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.  
"Up! Get up! Now!"**

"Isn't that just a lovely wakeup call?" Hermione asked spitting sarcasm.**  
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.  
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"Your room must be really close the kitchen if you can hear that" Ron stated. "Lucky."

Harry just shakes his head.

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Hate to break it to ya but that wasn't a dream", Ginny said cheekily.

Harry just mock glared at her.**  
His aunt was back outside the door.  
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"Give him some time to get up!" Hermione and Ginny exclaimed testily.**  
"Nearly," said Harry.  
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."  
**"They made you cook?" Hermione asked.

Harry ignored her.**  
Harry groaned.  
**"Harry! That's rude it's your cousin!"**  
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.  
**"He didn't say anything you horsed face cow", Ginny fumed.

"Yeah, he groaned! Get it right!" Harry said in a third person.

This caused the others to laugh, the desired effect. **  
"Nothing, nothing..."  
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks.**

"Harry, you really need to be more organized. Maybe I'll come over sometime to help, I don't live to far from privet drive", Hermione stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Harry could only nod, he doubt that would be able to happen, between his uncle and cousin, he couldn't see her getting past the front door.

**He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.**

Ron shuddered at the thought of spiders.

**Harry was used to spiders,**

"Will you please stop mentioning spiders?" Ron all but, pleaded.

"Sorry, mate", Harry shrugged.

**Because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them and that was where he slept.  
**There was a minute of silence, anger in the raven-haired boy's friends. Surprisingly it was Ron you ignited the fireworks.

"A CUPBOARD! THEY MADE YOU LIVE IN A BLOODY CUPBOARD! THEY CAN'T TREAT MY BEST MATE LIKE THAT! THEY PAY FOR THIS THEY WILL!" Ron bellowed.

"THAT'S CHILD ABUSE, THAT IS! THEY SHOULD BE REPORTED, NO, THAT'S TOO MERICFUL! I CAN'T WAIT TO LEARN SOME SPELLS SO I CAN LEGALLY TORTURE THEM!" Hermione hollered.

Ginny was so livid, she was without words. This was so unreal to her, she just couldn't believe it. The boy she loved so much, the boy she grew up hearing about, the great hero, was being mistreated. He was forced to live with miserable, sorry excuse for muggles and live in the cupboard under the stairs. Ginny needed some way to express how she felt right now, but couldn't think of anything, so she just cried. She just cried, cried for the boy that had so many troubles in life and it's barely begun, cried for the boy she loved.

Harry was shocked; no one ever cared for him so much, so to have three people worry about how he was treated at home was overwhelming. Hermione was the most amusing; he could see her becoming something of a sister to him later. Ginny was crying for him and he didn't what to think.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"What's that stuff?" Ronald asked.

"A computer is a something you can type on, play games, send messages, and other things. Television is a box where you can watch moving pictures with sound and actors. Racing bikes are-", Hermione began to monologue before Harry interrupt.

"Hermione, we should really continue the book. We'll explain the muggle items at the end of it all", Harry offered.

Hermione just nodded

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. **

"That better not be who I think it is", Ginny said in a dangerously low tone.

Ron and Harry had the same thoughts of hoping to never be the cause of the little redhead's anger.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

"You're lucky she likes you, or you would be injured by now", Ron stated.

"I really am", Harry chuckled.

Ginny was just breathing in Harry's scent kind of nodding off.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.  
**"That's somewhat reassuring", Hermione grumbled.**  
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

Everyone's mood darkened.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

"Wow and I thought having to wear my brother's old stuff was bad", Ron said slightly ashamed.

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"Handsome", Ginny muttered into Harry's chest.

Little did Ginny know that Harry heard her, he turn a little pink in the cheeks.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

There was some growls going around.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.  
**"Now, I know how I got it, I don't like it. I wish it would just go away", Harry grumbled.**  
"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."  
**"They lied to you… I'm not even surprised", Ginny said coldly.

"How are you suppose to learn", Hermione said concerned.**  
Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.  
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.  
"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.  
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.  
**"I wonder how", Ron said mock thoughtfully.

"Magic", Ginny replied mysteriously.

Everyone giggled or chuckled for a bit. Let's just say it eased the tension.**  
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. **

"Wow, he sound like quite the looker", Hermione said sarcastically.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.  
**"Ron I think we should keep Harry away from the twins. They may just corrupt him", Ginny stated.

"Agreed", Ron nodded.**  
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.  
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."  
**"He's complaining! I wish I could get a fourth of that!" Ron exclaimed.**  
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."  
**"Mummy and Daddy, honestly? What is he five?" Ginny mocked.**  
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.  
**"Atta boy, Harry, save the bacon!" Ron encouraged.

"Harry, you should take your time eating, you could choke," Hermione reprimanded.**  
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right"  
**"What?! Mum would have stood her ground and chuck us in a corner, but not before a good spanking," Ron said subconsciously rubbing his rear.**  
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."  
**"The dumb hippo can't even count", Ginny said scandalized.**  
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.  
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."  
Uncle Vernon chuckled.  
"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.  
**"What kind of parent is he? You're not suppose to encourage that kind of behavior," Hermione looked as if her understanding the world was taking its last breathe.**  
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.  
**"What's her problem, lemon juice up her nose?" Ron asked innocently.**  
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.  
**"He has a name! It's Harry James Potter!" Ginny shrieked. Harry looked at her questioningly, causing her to blush. "Don't ask, Potter."**  
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.  
**"She's one of those cat ladies, poor thing," Ginny said sympathetically.**  
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.  
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.  
**"Call her and I'll disappear," Harry stated with a certain dark element that suggested something horrible.**  
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."  
**"Trust me, those feelings are returned," Harry announced.

"Why don't you like her?" Hermione questioned.

"You'll probably see later," Harry replied.**  
The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.  
**"Then he's a very handsome slug," Ginny strongly stated til Harry smiled at her, to which she blushed.**  
"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"  
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.  
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).  
**"I'm a nut, that's never going to happen," Harry whined.**  
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.  
"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.  
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.  
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."  
**"Child abuse! Child abuse, that is! Someone should call the police!" Hermione and Ginny demanded.**  
"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."  
Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.  
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.  
**"If I was him, I'd cry just from the names she gives him," Ron said honestly.**  
"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.  
**"Quit complaining!"**  
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.  
**"Guess they're just great friends", Ginny voice dripped with sarcasm.**  
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.  
"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."  
**"That's not true, is it?" Ron asked.

"No, I'm guessing I still go to school; otherwise it would be a boring story to just be in cupboard just sitting there," Harry said laughing.**  
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..."  
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.  
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.  
**"Accidently magic!"**  
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

"Not the hair!" Ginny cried. "You animal! You animal!"

The others just looked at her weird.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

"People picking on my baby?! That settle it, I can't wait to get my wand," Ginny said with an evil look. Ron and Hermione scooted farther away from her, Harry tried but she pulled him back. Harry mouthed 'help me' to Ron gave him a look that said 'sorry, you are on your own.'

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.  
**"Oh Petunia", Ginny said in a maniacal sing-song voice.

"Ginny, your creeping us out", Harry said in a shaky voice.

"Sorry, Harry, hug?" Ginny held her arms out open.

Harry just smiled and kissed her cheek. Ginny in turned an exceptional Weasley red. **  
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.  
**"He better has not been or there will be consequences", Hermione stated with a heated passion.

"You guys know this punishment stuff already happened, right?" Harry asked.

Ginny and Hermione blushed red, Ron stayed normal, and he hasn't been talking to the book…yet.**  
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.  
**"Wow Harry you flew? You're amazing", Ginny said dreamily.

Harry's face suddenly felt a bit warm.**  
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.  
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.  
**"Harry, I get the feeling he doesn't like you much", Ron said joking.**  
"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"I always wanted a motorcycle", Harry admitted.

"Harry, motorcycles aren't the safest vehicles", Hermione stated.

"Who cares as long as I get a ride", Ginny said excitedly.**  
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."  
**Everyone just shook their heads even Harry.**  
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"  
**"They can to with a little faith, trust and pixy dust", Hermione said, sending Harry and herself into a fit of laughter.

Ginny and Ron looked confused.**  
Dudley and Piers sniggered.  
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."  
But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.  
**"I wanna see these cartoons", Ginny thought.**  
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.  
**"Harry! Don't insult the gorilla it haven't done anything to you", Hermione reprimanded, between laughter.

The others could only laugh.**  
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

That killed any laughter still lingering and was replaced by pure loathe.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.  
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.  
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.  
**"I hate snakes! They're all scaly, slimy, and evil things", Ginny squealed.

Ginny shuddered; Harry subconsciously pulled her close to him and rocked her. After a minute, Ginny calmed down but stayed where she was cuddled into Harry.**  
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.  
**"Like the little pig he is", Ron said all serious.

The others were just laughing their heads off while Ron was confused.**  
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.  
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.  
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.  
"Harry, you do realize you're comparing yourself to a snake, right?" Ginny asked with mock concern.

Harry just rolled his eyes and mock glared at her.**  
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.  
It winked.  
**"Ginny I think you have competition", Ron joked.

Ginny just glared and snuggle more into Harry, Harry just chuckled.**  
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.  
**"You're cheating on me with a disgusting snake," Ginny accused.

"You two aren't dating and I don't think it was meant that way. By the way snake can't blink, they don't have eye lids", Hermione said.

Ginny just blushed, while crossing her arms.**  
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"I get that all the time."  
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."  
The snake nodded vigorously.  
"Holy cricket, you are parselmouth, why didn't you say anything?" Ron asked.

"A what?" Hermione asked back.

"A parselmouth is someone who can talk to snakes", Ginny explained.

"Cool, I can talk to an animal", Harry said.

"Harry, no one can find out, parseltongues are usually accustomed to dark wizards", Ron stated concerned.**  
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.  
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.  
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.  
"Was it nice there?"  
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"  
**"Only you would have a conversation with a snake and think it's completely normal", Hermione just shook her head.

Harry just shrugged.**  
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"  
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.  
**"So he's part pig, whale, hippo, gorilla, and now penguin, what else?" Hermione inquired.**  
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.  
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.  
**"Best. Accidently. Magic. Ever," Ron said almost speechless.**  
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."  
**"Atleast he's polite", Hermione encouraged.**  
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.  
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"I think it ran away since there's no such thing as magic", Ginny said.**  
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"  
**"Moron, he's a complete idiot, does he realize he just condemned Harry?" Ginny asked pretty much planning the boy's death.**  
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.  
**"That ars- I mean that jerk", Ron corrected himself under Hermione's glare.**  
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.  
**The mood went so dark it was almost black, Ginny went back to cry with Harry trying to comfort. Hermione and Ron were fuming. Harry was the only calm one because he was use to it.**  
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from.**

"The killing curse", Ginny mumbled still crying.

**He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.  
**"Oh Harry!" Ginny exploded into silent sobbing.

Hermione was tearing, Ron was trying to comfort her but he wasn't use to this. Ginny never really cried.**  
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.**

"We'll be your family, mate", Ron offered.

"Thanks mate", Harry accepted.

"Yeah, you be the husband, I be the wife, Ron be your brother-in-law, and Hermione extended family", Ginny tried mumbling to herself but failed and everyone heard.

Harry blushed a Weasley. Hermione giggled, with Ron laughing.

"Ginny, we all heard you, stop fangirling", Ron stated.

Ginny squealed and hide in Harry's chest, Harry just stoked her hair.

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.  
**"That's disapperating my dear Harry," Ron said pompous like.

Harry and Hermione just pretended to know what he was saying.**  
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"We do", Hermione said fiercely.

"Well that was it," Ginny said.

"Ginny the next time we have you read can you stop reading from in Harry's chest? We had trouble hearing you sometimes", Hermione wondered.

"Sure, I'll try," Ginny blushed.

"Well I'll read next", Harry offered.

Ginny slid him the book and he began reading.

_**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I never wanted to be one of those authors who took months to update but people keep throwing me drama and two honor math classes aren't a joke.**_


End file.
